Donations Sought to Return Crash Victims' Bodies to Israel

AGOURA HILLS — A local synagogue appealed for donations Tuesday to help return to Israel the bodies of four of six San Fernando Valley Israelis who died in a weekend plane crash.

Officials at the Chabad of Conejo Valley in Agoura estimated that it could cost $25,000 for transportation to Israel and funeral arrangements for the three members of the Amrani family of Agoura Hills and a family friend who perished in the crash Sunday night in Lancaster.

"Every Jew feels a connection to the land of Israel. They would want to have their eternal resting place in their homeland," said Moshe Bryski, head rabbi of the synagogue. Bryski said the Amrani family does not have the money to pay the expenses.

Federal investigators Tuesday continued to sort through the remains of the rented twin-engine Cessna 310 from Van Nuys that crashed while returning from a weekend trip to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. All six people aboard were killed. Officials have not released a cause for the crash.

Although the coroner's office has yet to make formal identifications, relatives said the victims included the pilot, Israel Feldman, 34, of Sherman Oaks; his fiance, Orit Mormi, 30; two sons and a daughter of the Amrani family, and a girlfriend of the eldest son.

Bryski said the Amrani family members killed in the crash were Oren, the family's eldest son, about 26; another son Alon, about 21; their teen-age sister Tali, about 16, and a woman from Israel who was staying with the family and identified as Dafna Zachar, about 20, Oren's girlfriend.

Bryski said he spent much of Monday and Tuesday at the family's house comforting the father, Arie Amrani, the only immediate family member present. The rabbi said Amrani's wife and only other son, a 10-year-old, were in Israel at the time of the crash. They plan to remain there for the funeral.

Donations for the family's funeral expenses can be sent to the Amrani Children's Fund established by the Chabad at California Federal Bank, 5727 Kanan Road, Agoura Hills, 91301. For further information, contact the Chabad of Conejo Valley at (818) 991-0991.